Author: SMFC Media

South Melbourne FC confirms that we will not be appealing Football Federation Victoria’s decision to deduct our Senior Men’s team three Championship Points.

The Club made the decision not to appeal after carefully considering all relevant matters and taking appropriate legal advice. The possibility of increased sanctions, including a further points deduction (now or suspended until next year) together with substantial fines, were just two of the key considerations during this process.

The club remains disappointed that it has been harshly treated under the Grievance Disciplinary and Tribunal By-Law 2016 (GDT), as it presently applies. The club is heartened, however, by FFV’s proposal to review the GDT at season’s end and it intends to fully participate in that process to achieve appropriate change.

The club will now host a triple-header on Sunday at Lakeside Stadium, which will include both our senior men and women playing important matches as they both strive to win silverware in 2016.

The day will kick-off at 1pm, with our Women’s Reserve team playing Eltham. This will then be followed by our Senior Women at 3pm also against Eltham, where a win will see them crowned 2016 State League Champions.

SMFC will then host Hume City in an Elimination Final commencing at 5.30pm, with the winner of this clash set to take on Heidelberg United in the Semi Final next weekend. With both matches against Hume so far this season being tight contests, we urge all of our fans to get behind the club and to support the team this Sunday.

All members of the club will receive free entry all through the day, with tickets for the Elimination Final being $15 for Adults and $10 for Concession.

South Melbourne FC confirms that our Senior Men’s team has been deducted three Championship Points and fined $500 after being charged with an MP5A Offence (Failing to Control Club Associates) by Football Federation Victoria.

Despite the match being an away game, the tribunal found that the club was liable for the conduct of its supporters, who were found to have misbehaved by verbally abusing the Assistant Referee in our recent match against Bentleigh Greens.

The Club also had one of its members suspended for a six-month term.

SMFC has five business days to appeal the decision and is carefully assessing its options.

We will make no further public comment.

South Melbourne FC is proud to host the annual Tony Clarke Memorial Shield match, as a curtain-raiser to our senior men’s game against the Melbourne Knights this Sunday.

The Tony Clarke Memorial Shield is organised by the Victoria Police Soccer Club (VPSC) and the Blue Ribbon Foundation. It honours Senior Constable Tony Clarke, a playing member of VPSC who was tragically murdered in the line of duty in April 2005. This year marks the eleventh anniversary of his passing. The annual match is played between VPSC – the ‘Copperoos’ – and a team of former Socceroos, and this year will kick off at 1.30pm.

The Socceroos team will be filled with some faces familiar to South fans, including Alan Davidson, Fausto De Amicis, Kimon Taliadoros and Theo Selemidis, and also stars Jimmy Rooney, a member of the 1974 World Cup Squad.

After the Tony Clarke Memorial Shield, SMFC takes on the Melbourne Knights for the perpetual Tony Clarke Memorial Cup, which will be presented to the winning team at the conclusion of the match. A ‘Best on Ground’ award will also be presented to the Man of the Match, as judged by VPSC. This is the second year the Tony Clarke Memorial Cup will be presented to an NPL team.

VPSC life member Senior Sergeant Ron Sinclair is delighted with SMFC’s continued involvement and commitment to the event. “it means a lot to us to be able to honour our friend and team mate here at Lakeside Stadium, something I’m sure Tony would be proud of”.

SMFC Operations Manager George Kouroumalis is humbled to be hosting the memorial day for the third year in a row. “We are honoured to be able to pay our respects and continue our partnership with the Victoria Police Soccer Club by once again welcoming them to Lakeside Stadium on Sunday. Ron and the VPSC have been tremendous supporters of our club over the past few years and we consider them part of the SMFC Family”.

The Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation honours police offers who have made the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty. The Foundation donates money to purchase much need equipment and facilities for public hospitals – and in doing so remembers the lives of fallen officers by helping to save others.

Donations to the Blue Ribbon Foundation can be made on their website: www.remember.org.au.

We urge all SMFC supporters to come to Lakeside early to show their support for what is truly a worthy cause.

Last Sunday 24 July, South Melbourne FC played against Melbourne Victory’s NPL side at AAMI Park. Despite some resistance from Victory’s young team, Chris Taylor’s men eventually took the three points with a 4-1 win.

Football Federation Victoria had made the decision to play the match behind closed doors at AAMI Park but we made sure to keep our fans tuned into the events of the match with a live stream off our official SMFC Facebook page.

Since going live just prior to kick-off last Sunday afternoon and with hardly any prior advertising, the live stream ‘reached’ just under 600,000 people on Facebook (appeared on timelines of a facebook user) within 48 hours and accumulated a total of 25,500 views of the game. We did not expect such a positive response and we thank everyone for tuning in and hope that they enjoyed the coverage.

We would also like to thank our major sponsors Melbourne City Toyota and Bob Jane T-Marts for their continued support of SMFC TV throughout the 2016 PS4 NPL Victoria season. Without their support and the support of the media team at the FFV, the live stream would not have been possible.

We return to Lakeside Stadium this Sunday 31 July with our final double-header of the season. Our Senior Women play against the Preston Lions at 1pm, with our Senior Men playing Avondale FC at 4pm in another must-win match.

With the success of last Sunday’s live stream, we will be looking to do similar projects in the future. Stay tuned!

South Melbourne FC confirms that this weekend’s Round 22 PS4 NPL Victoria match against Melbourne Victory’s NPL team will be played behind closed doors.

Football Federation Victoria made the decision to play this match behind closed doors and officially informed the Club this week. The match is closed for players, officials and media only.

We are very disappointed that our fans will not be allowed to support the team this weekend in the same positive manner that they have done all season.

For our fans not able to attend this game, SMFC will provide a live stream of the match for everyone to enjoy. Details of the stream can be found on all of our official social media channels over the next few days.

For all media enquiries, please contact Football Federation Victoria.

South Melbourne FC will proudly join forces with Hume City to support Hume defender Shane Rexhepi’s SR13 Appeal when the two sides meet at Lakeside Stadium on Friday night.

The SR13 Appeal was set up by Rexhepi last year after the unfortunate passing of his father to cancer in August 2014. SR13 aims to raise as much money and awareness as possible to help eliminate cancer for good. Rexhepi donates a portion of his playing wage after every game and increases his donation every time Hume keep a clean sheet and every time he scores a goal.

All proceeds that the SR13 Appeal raise are donated to the Cancer Council of Victoria and so far Shane has managed to raise over $25,000.

Shane formerly represented the Dandenong Thunder and remains friends with many of our current SMFC players (as well as coach Chris Taylor) that also played alongside him there. The SMFC players will support this very worthy cause by wearing yellow socks (the colour of the Cancer Council of Victoria) on Friday night as well as donating an amount to the SR13 Appeal.

Two dollars from every match day ticket sold will be donated to the appeal and there will also be volunteers at the front of Gate 2 accepting gold coin donations. SMFC corporate partners, football staff, operations staff and the board of management will all join the players in making personal donations.

For more details and to make a personal donation, please visit www.smfc.com.au/SR13